You have been hired as a Scrum Master for a company that has been doing business for over fifty years. In order to stay competitive, they have started an initiative to digitize their legacy systems. The company has several Scrum Teams working on different components that will be integrated to a single back office platform.

Your team is responsible for building the back office platform and integrating all other components. The Scrum Teams work in two week Sprints and are expected to deliver all functionality in six Sprints.

During development the requirement changes in the other components have been slowing down your team’s progress. Because of these changes, your team has estimated that they will not be able to deliver all expected work within the original timeframe. The Scrum Teams working on the other components confirm that they are still on track to meet the expected delivery date. The program manager in charge of the digitization initiative is upset and angry with your team.

As a Scrum Master, what could you do to help the Product Owner?

A. You suggest working with the program manager and the other teams on the ordering and the value of your team’s open Product Backlog items to redefine the possible delivery date.
B. You shorten your team’s Sprints to be ready sooner.
C. You remove all items from the Product Backlog for which development is forecasted to be beyond the expected date. These are likely to be low value anyhow.
D. You suggest adding additional developers to the team in order to increase velocity and meet the original date.

Correct Answer: A

The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner in several ways, including:
Finding techniques for effective Product Backlog management
Helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items
Understanding product planning in an empirical environment
Ensuring the Product Owner knows how to arrange the Product Backlog to maximize value